


Where Have You Been?

by BloodFrost



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Developing Relationship, Eventual Fluff, Feelings, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylux - Freeform, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, One True Pairing, Public Display of Affection, Romantic Fluff, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Star Wars - Freeform, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodFrost/pseuds/BloodFrost
Summary: Armitage Hux’s boyfriend Ben is the perfect guy: smart, tall, handsome, athletic ... everything that Hux could dream of in a parrtner. Except for one little thing: when it comes to public displays of affection, Ben doesn’t really seem like he’s comfortable with them. In fact, outside of their closest friends, nobody even knows that the two are dating.Can Hux find the courage to talk to Ben about why this is the case? And more importantly, can Hux be open with HIMSELF, about what he wants and needs from this relationship?





	Where Have You Been?

Hux walked slowly, thoughtfully, to his locker. It was after school, and he was feeling a bit melancholy as he headed down to the second floor. He had been putting off cleaning out his locker for days, but, after spending almost 10 minute earlier today trying to wrestle his history textbook out of the melee, decided that now was the time.

And besides, he was in no hurry to get home. Although his dad would be gone for work by now (Hux’s father was a factory foreman who worked from 4pm to 2am), Hux really didn’t feel up to going home and being alone for so long.

And the one person he’d have wanted to come over and keep him company, had wresting practice today.

 _It’s not like he’d have come to see you anyway,_ Hux thought to himself, as he dragged one of the hallway trash cans to his locker, _It’s not like he’s even texted you once today._

Which, actually, wasn’t an unusual thing for Ben Solo, the boy who had been Hux’s friend (and, within the past year, his boyfriend). He hardly ever texted unless he needed or wanted something ... but Hux had been hoping, just a little, that last night had changed that for them.

Hux loved Ben, he truly did. He had harbored a crush on him since the two had been in the same kindergarten class together. And when Ben had one day kissed Hux, Hux had been elated, that his feelings were being returned.

But at the same time, Hux knew what Ben was like. Quiet, thoughtful, somewhat introverted. A bit of an off-beat sense of humor.

And not exactly the physically demonstrative kind, either.

But Hux wanted them to share more than the hugs and kisses they shared in private. He wanted to be like other couples at school; holding hands, public kissing and cuddling, the whole thing.

But the thing was, it was something that had never come up between them. They had been dating for almost a year, but nobody outside of their core group of friends knew this. Neither Ben nor Hux initiated any kind of contact with each other at school, and now it was even more difficult, as the start of the new semester saw them each pursuing drastically different schedules. Now, that didn’t even have lunch together, and would only see each other if they happened to pass each other in the halls.

And Hux was a bit afraid to ask Ben WHY this was the case. Was Ben embarassed, at being with a boy? Did he not want other people to know because he might get made fun of, or the wrestling team might look at him funny in the locker room?

For that matter, Hux was afraid to truly ask HIMSELF why things were the way they were. Was HUX in someway embarrassed, or was he just hesitant because he didn’t want to ruffle Ben’s feathers about something potentially awkward?

A lot to think about.

And was it weird; was Hux only feeling that so much had changed between them, just because of last night? 

Because last night, at Hux’s house ... the two had made the timid decision to try sex. After some initial awkwardness, Hux really, really enjoyed himself, and the indescribable feeling that came from being so close with one another. He had thought Ben had liked it too ... but maybe that wasn’t the case. After all, here it was, more than 8 hours after the fact, and Ben hasn’t sent so much as a single text to him all day.

Was losing his virginity to Ben, being intimate with him, THAT big of a deal? Or was Hux just over-dramatizing it in his mind?

That must be the case.

 _Maybe I’m just too clingy_ , he thought to himself now, as he pulled paper after crumpled paper from the locker and into the trash can. _Or Maybe it’s just that Ben doesn’t feel the same way. Maybe ... this whole ‘relationship’ has only been about Ben getting me in bed, and now that he has, maybe he doesn’t —_

“Hey,” came a voice from behind, startling Hux a little. He had been so absorbed in cleaning his locker that he hadn’t even heard Ben walk up.

“Hey,” he answered, balling up another paper and tossing it into the can.

“Where have you been? You haven’t answered my texts all day! I was starting to get worried.”

Hux frowned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “You haven’t texted me,” he said, hitting the Home button. “I’ve had my phone on vibrate all day, I would have felt —“

He paused, and felt his face turn a deep red. Up on the top of the screen, a little black Airplane logo stood out prominently against the white backdrop.

“Shiiiiit,” he said, slowly. “I can’t believe this; I never took it off of airplane mode from last night!”

Lately, Hux’s phone was very slow to charge, so, after a certain point at night, Hux would switch to airplane mode to help it charge faster. Usually he remembered to take it back off in the morning ... but apparently that wasn’t the case today.

Ben chuckled and shook his head. “Geez, Hux. I’m glad, though; I was scared you were just ignoring me all day.”

Hux took his phone back to normal, and waited as his messages loaded.

“Jesus ... are all of these from YOU?”, Hux asked, as a myriad of missed texts popped up one after the other.

Ben blushed, and made an attempt to grab Hux’s phone. “It’s ok, let me delete them, you don’t have to read them.”

But Hux ducked and held his phone out of reach, opening the first one. “Fuck that; you took the time to write them, so —“

Hux’s words stopped in their tracks. This text ... it sounded NOTHING like Ben. It was so overwhelmingly sweet and earnest that it was like reading something from a different person.

And it wasn’t the only one.

ALL of Ben’s massages had that crazily surreal quality to them, making Hux question whether he was just in the middle of a dream. A dream because, the kind of things written on the screen of his phone were the kind of things he’d dreamt of Ben saying to him, ever since their first date.

One in particular had Hux’s heart stopping multiple times, killed by the sincerity of Ben’s words:

_Hux, I left you like two hours ago but I’m still awake and still thinking of you. I feel like a weirdo but I can’t stop sniffing my skin because I smell like you/the cologne you wear, sooo good. I really REALLY like what we did tonight. It felt so good but not just physically. I feel like I felt it in my soul, as corny as that sounds. And you know I don’t say shit like this much, but I want you to know that I really really love you, Hux. And no not just because we did it. And not because you’re really hot. Like, ridiculously hot. Really, were you even aware of how hot you actually are? Damn near radioactive, ha ha. Like I thought you were hot *before* but seeing you naked almost killed me. Okay but seriously, honestly, you’re the person I want to talk to all the time, you’re the one I think of during love songs, you’re the one who makes my heart do that weird thing where it feels like you stood up too fast and got dizzy and had to take a deep breath to calm down. You’re the one whose hand feels like it was shaped to hold my own. You’re the puzzle piece that connects with me and creates a beautiful picture. You’re SO MUCH, and I’m so incredibly undeserving of being able to call you mine. Ok I’m gonna end this because you’re probably cringing really hard reading this. Loves you and can’t wait til I get to see you tomorrow!_

“Oh my God,” Hux said, softly. His knees felt weak and his whole body felt like it would melt at any second. “Did you mean all of this?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, giving Hux his shy smile. “Every word.”

Hux threw his arms around him and hugged him, hard. “Thank you so much,” he murmured into Ben’s ear, squeezing him. “Nobody’s ever said stuff like that to me before!”

“And nobody else will get a chance to, because I’m not ever letting you go, babe,” Ben whispered back, before kissing Hux’s cheek. When they separated, he took hold of Hux’s hand and said, “Come with me to the lower level gym? I’m gonna tell my coach I don’t feel good so I can skip practice today.”

“Why?”, Hux asked, as Ben tugged him along. Also: Ben was holding his hand. In public. Was this just because there weren’t many people around after that final bell, or were things changing? 

“It’s nice out today; lets go to the pier or something. We can get some food and take it out there.”

Hux smiled and squeezed Ben’s hand tighter. “That sounds amazing.”

When they got to the gym, Ben pulled him around to the side, where the door to the boy’s locker room was. “Wait here,” he said, letting go of Hux’s hand. “I’ll be right back.”

Hux leaned against the wall, looking down at his phone and re-reading some of his favorite texts, when two boys heading towards the door stopped and did a double-take, staring at him.

Hux looked up. Both boys were well-built and somewhat muscular, likely some of Ben’s wrestling teammates. One was black, with short cut hair and a tan leather jacket; the other appeared to be of either white or Latino descent, with short brown hair and deep brown eyes.

 _Why are they looking at me?_ , Hux wondered to himself uneasily.

“Hey ... is your name Hux?”, the tan-jacketed one asked, stepping closer to him.

“Uh, yeah?”, Hux replied, surprised.

The boys face lit up, and he slapped the other guy across the chest. “Look! He’s REAL! I told you he’s real! You owe me $5!”

Hux looked at the both of them, confused. “Sorry, I’m kinda lost. Er, do I know either of you?”

The first boy shook his head, then offered his hand to Hux. Hux, still confused, took it. “Shit, sorry, that was probably weird. My name is Poe. That’s Finn,” he said, gesturing to the other boy. “We’re with Ben on the wrestling team.”

“Yeah,” the other boy, Finn, said. “Solo talks about you so fucking much but nobody’s ever SEEN you, you know? Half our team thinks he just made you up. Like, the old thing dudes used to make up about dating someone at another school.”

“But it IS you, right? Red hair, blue eyes, glasses, a black backpack with a red heart patch on the pocket?”

Hux didn’t quite know what to say, he was so surprised. “Ben ... talks about me?”

“Literally all the time. Oh, man, I’m gonna be RICH once I tell everyone you exist!”

At that moment Ben came out of the locker room, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Okay, sorry that took so long, but I’m ready to go now,” he said, moving towards Hux’s side.

“Wait a second, jackass! At least let us congratulate you first!”, Poe said, clapping Ben on the shoulder.

“Huh? On what?”

“Don’t give us that, dude. You know damn well EVERYONE was wondering about him,” Finn said, pointing at Hux. “And holy shit, he’s REAL.”

Ben blushed and shook his head. “Of course he is! Why would I make that up?!”

“Well, ok, in the future you need to invite him to meets, so everyone doesn’t think you’re crazy.”

“Hey, can I get you to come into the locker room for a sec? Just so the others believe me?”, Poe asked, smiling at Hux.

Before Hux could answer, Ben shook his head at that, taking hold of Hux’s arm. “No. Just take a picture.”

So the boy pulled out his phone and instructed them to smile. But Ben did a little more; he put both hands around Hux’s narrow waist, dipped him backwards, and planted an intense kiss on him. Poe snapped the picture, smiling widely.

“Thank you!”, he exclaimed, as Ben pulled the blushing Hux back up. “Hey this pictures good, you want me to send this to you?”, he asked Ben, showing him the shot on his phone.

“Yeah, please. Okay but for real now we’re gonna go, okay? Have fun at practice without me.”

“Yeah, yeah, slacker. Hux, it was good to meet you, man. And for real, come to a meet sometime.”

“I will,” Hux said, taking hold of Ben’s hand as they prepare to leave. “Nice to meet you, too.”

When they were far enough away, Ben said, in a low voice, “I’m sorry about that; that was awkward.”

“It’s okay. But can I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“Both of them said that you talk about me. And the one acted surprised that I haven’t been to any of your meets. Why is that? Have ... did you want to keep me away?”

They had reached the parking lot now, and Ben temporarily dropped Hux’s hand to reach into his pocket for his keys.

“No. But, well, I guess I was scared.”

“Scared? Of what?”

They reached his car and Ben let them in, each of them tossing their backpacks into the back seat.

“Me and you, we’ve never had a talk about this before, you know? Like, uh, being ‘out’. I was worried that maybe you might not like that, like having other people know about us, and I didn’t want to make you feel weird by asking if you like, wanted to meet my teammates and stuff like that.”

Hux was quiet for a few moments.

“It’s funny, how alike we are,” he said after awhile, reaching over to pat Ben’s shoulder. “I felt like that, too. But ... if it’s something you’re okay with, then yes, I want to be ‘open’. Like hold your hand in the hallways and all that stuff.”

Ben smiled and reached over, patting Hux’s shoulder. “Okay, then, it’s decided; whenever we see each other in the hallway, we put on a sex show for everyone.”

Hux chuckled and reached over, pinching Ben’s cheek. “Maybe not THAT far. I’ll settle with you holding my hand.”

“Fine. But um, speaking of sex ... I can’t lie and say I haven’t spent all day thinking about last night. Do you think maybe, later on, I could, um, get a chance to count the rest of those freckles on your thighs?”

Hux blushed and looked out the window. “I have freckles on my thighs?”

“Mm hm. I counted about 32; but I had a bunch more to go.”

Still blushing, Hux said, “How about you get me that food you promised, then we’ll talk about my freckles.”

“Deal,” Ben said, as the two drove off into the late afternoon sunshine.


End file.
